The Dominion Post
February 2, 2004

PM orders independent inquiry
by Leah Haines

Prime Minister Helen Clark has ordered a new, independent inquiry into allegations of pack-rape by three police officers.

She said a police investigation alone would not do.

"What we have to ensure is that any inquiry that is done has full credibility with the public because I think the nature of the allegation is such that the police investigating itself wouldn't be enough," she said last night.

Both Miss Clark and Police Minister George Hawkins confirmed they were told about allegations of sexual offending against Assistant Commissioner Clint Rickards when his name came up as a potential deputy police commissioner three years ago.

But Miss Clark confirmed she was not told at the time that a Police Complaints Authority investigation found flaws in an officer's initial inquiries into Mrs Nicholas' allegations.

Asked whether she would have expected to have been told about those concerns when screening an officer for such an important job, she said: "You would obviously expect that anything relevant to an appointment, you would be advised of."

But she added: "The (police) commissioner acted quite properly in advising me as he did."

Police said last night that attaching records of an inquiry in which officers had been cleared to their files would have been in breach of standard employment practice and law.

Opposition parties called for an independent inquiry and criticised Police Minister George Hawkins for not acting sooner.

Tony Ryall, National's police spokesman, said he was concerned about the effect the allegations would have on front-line police.

The Green Party and ACT said an inquiry should also consider the failure of police hierarchy to fully investigate the complaints when they were originally made.